Boehringer Ingelheim Makes Offer
For a 33.4% Stake in Japan's SSP

By

Yumiko Ono Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Jan. 18, 2000 12:01 a.m. ET

TOKYO -- German drug maker Boehringer Ingelheim KG said it launched a tender offer to gain a significant role in Japan's SSP Co., in a sign that the pharmaceutical industry could be joining the wave of consolidation sweeping through other industries in Japan.

The offer, an unusual step in a country where acquisitions are usually worked out behind the scenes, would give the world's 19th-largest drug company a better foothold in Japan's...